Traumatic events, such as the one experienced by people in Washington, D.C. and New York can trigger Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In addition, those that have been through previous trauma and witness new traumatic events may relapse. I encourage you to visit the following web sites to get a better idea of PTSD.

The first is a FACT sheet from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) which gives a brief overview of the disorder including symptoms, occurrence, and treatments.

    http://www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety/ptsdfacts.cfm

The second web site is sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association.

    http://www.psych.org/public_info/ptsd.cfm

The third web site is again from NIMH. It has a Fact sheet/article regarding Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters. It too has research-based information.

    http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/violence.cfm

The last web site, again by NIMH, is a short Fact sheet about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a one-page, condensed version.

    http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/reliving.cfm